The answer for Kettering has been to extend its mature, web-based network to provide on-demand distance education. KMC was one of the first healthcare providers to develop a multi-campus intranet (described in my colleague Brett Kottmann's three-part article for IDM, "Internal Medicine."). As a result, by 1997, when the Nursing Education Department expressed an interest in developing intranet-based training alternatives, people were acquainted with the browser interface and workstations had proliferated in both clinical and non-clinical areas.

In 1998, as funding became scarcer, it became a top priority to find a cost-effective means of satisfying the requirement for "education days," on which clinical nurses completed various written and practical assessments of selected skills. At the same time, the Human Resources department expressed a desire to offer alternative means of achieving basic safety education required of all hospital employees.

Built, not bought

On the supply side, subject matter experts in clinical education and Human Resources were very positively disposed to online education and testing. The technical expertise to build web applications while keeping in mind instructional design was available from the Information Systems department. Because of these supporting factors KMC made the decision to develop education apps locally (as opposed to outsourcing the work).

Why develop locally? In our case, using a combination of HTML, JavaScript, Allaire Cold Fusion and Perlyielded a very economical, yet flexible solution. And outsourcing is not without its problems. Learning needs specific to an institution may not be readily available from commercial sources. Resident experts may not have the time to give continuous live presentations. Training content may change so frequently that very flexible applications are needed to meet institutional goals. All these factors applied to our situation.

There are many online learning development systems available. Excellent lists are available from many sites such as the Masie Center (www.masie.com), The Web Based Training Center (www.filename.com/wbt) and The WestEd Distance Learning Resource Network (www.wested.org/tie/dlrn).

Prices for these tools ranges from free to many thousands of dollars depending on the degree user interactivity desired, the number of multimedia capabilities sought, and the sophistication of tracking mechanisms offered.

Inside Technology Training magazine, available online at (www.ittrain.com) regularly offers comparisons and evaluations of commercial systems. Prepackaged courses such as those at ZD University (www.zdu.com) may be a very cost-effective method of educating personnel.

Personal touch

A major benefit of computer mediated education is the high degree of control the user has over the rate at which information is presented. Lessons can be browsed bidirectionally, elements can be repeated and text passages can be printed for offline review. When online testing is conducted, the learner has an opportunity to think about and formulate their responses at a pace convenient to them.

These features benefit individual students, but online education has group benefits as well. For example, electronic communication by email broadens the potential for collaboration and communication beyond traditional boundaries.

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